Puzzle Mended
by Meghan2
Summary: *WARNING contains scenes of rape and torture- not suitable for those who cannot handle it (don\'t worry it isn\'t a WTR character) otherwise: Sydney and the rest of the group try to help a young girl mend her life
1. The Beginning

Untitled 

Puzzle Mended 

Category: Drama with a little bit of romance thrown in 

Rating: R (for good reason so pay attention) 

Spoiler: None 

Summary: Sydney and the rest of the gang try to help a young girl put her life back together. 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this wonderful character, although I wish I did. These characters belong to CBS Productions, Top Kick Productions, and anyone else who put money into the show. No infringement is intended and all the ideas are mine. 

Please include a review when you are done, as this is my first fanfic EVER. But if you don't like it please don't be too harse. Thank you. And enjoy. 

Ch. 1 

It started on a dark, stormy night. The kind of night where horror stories seemed real. And this young woman was living a horror story. She had gotten away, away from the pain of the last 5 and a half years ( or at least that was her best guess). But for how long? How long until they tracked her down, dragged her back and punished her even worse for trying to escape? She had no idea where she was, where she was going or what was going to happen to her. But she also didn't care. She was already surronded by pain, could barely walk, so she didn't even care if she died out in the mud and rain, as long as they weren't the ones to kill her. For they would make the death as slow as possible. Alternating between walking, stumbling, running and looking over her shoulder all the while, she searched for a place to curl up and wish death would come quickly. At last she found 2 boulders pushed together creating a small area of dry land. As she sank to the ground and the deep, dark recesses of her mind began t oclaim her, she prayed. Prayed for the Lord to take her quickly and painlessly and while He was receiving her, would He also please take them? But not as quickly and painlessly. And with that last vengefull thought, her mind claimed heer and her body finally gave up the struggle she had fought against for so long. 

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 0.6.7 -->


	2. The Recovery

Ch 2  
  
  
  
Ranger Sydney Cooke had met her partner, Ranger Francis Gage (everyone called him Gage) at the diner near his apartment, for breakfast. This had become a new tradition for the two, meeting for breakfast several day a week. However this time they were interrupted halfway through the meal. They received a call about a possible assault with a weapon at a farmhouse outside of Dallas. It had been called in, by people who had been hiking past, that a man was seen chasing a screaming woman and brandishing a knife. But when Sydney and Gage got there they discovered it was a husband and wife team of amateur actors who were rehersing for a play. After the embarrassed two promised to reherse more quietly, the two rangers left. They were driving back into Dallas, passing a thick wood when Sydney suddenly yelled.  
  
"Gage! Stop the car!"  
  
"Why?! What's wrong?! Are you OK? Do you want to go to a hospital? I am taking you to a hospital." Gage reacted to Sydney's outburst with concern showing clearly in his eyes and voice, as the car screeched to a halt.  
  
"No, no. I am fine, but I saw something in the woods, it looked like a person." As she spoke Sydney got out of the car and began quickly walking towards the woods.  
  
"Syd, wait! We don't know what it is, or how many people there may be. Please let's call backup."  
  
Sydney was going to protest but when she looked into her partners eyes and saw the deep concern (and something else maybe?), she just agreed. "Fine, fine. Call Walker and Trivette."  
  
At that moment Walker was driving Alex to the courthouse after dropping Angela off at the HOPE Centre.  
  
"Walker. Hey Gage, what can I do for you? OK. Where are you guys? Fine. I have Alex with me so I will stop by Jimmy's and pick him up, unless Alex has to be at court early. She is shaking her head, so call Jimmy and tell him I will be at his place in 5 minutes. Bye."  
  
"Walker, what was that all about?"  
  
"Sydney and Gage were driving back to Dallas after a call and Syd saw something in the woods. Gage wouldn't let her check it out without backup. When do you have to be at court?"  
  
"Not until tomorrow. I was just going to do some paperwork today so I will stick with you for awhile. OK?  
  
"Sounds good to me but we do have to pick Jimmy up first"  
  
Sydney and Gage were wainting anxiously for Walker, Alex and Trivette to show up. Sydney kept trying to convince Gage to let her check it out before it got away. "Come on Gage. I just want to see what it is. You didn't really need to call for backup, it looked too small to be anything but a child. Actually it is probably an injured animal. Let me go in just a little and look at it. OK?"  
  
"Fine Syd. But I am going with you, got it?!"  
  
"Yup let's go!" And with that they began to walk very cautiously to the woods.  
  
"OK Syd, where was it? I don't see a thing!"  
  
"Right over here. Now stay back a little, we don't want to scare it by showing your ugly mug."  
  
"AWWW! Come on Syd. You know you love to look at my face everyday. Heck you probably even dream about it!"  
  
"Yeah, in my nightmares. Now back up!" Well he had been told so Gage stayed back a little (but not too much in case he had to save his partner). Sydney slowly crawled forward toward the curled up ball of... whatever.  
  
"Oh my God Gage, I think it is girl." Just as Sydney reached down to see if the girl was alive, her eyes popped open and she tried to jump up and away from the two rangers. She now stood cowering next to the rocks she had curled under.  
  
"Wait! It's OK. We aren't going to hurt you." cooed Sydney. "We are Rangers, we're going to help you. What's your name?" All Sydney got for a reply was a blank stare but in the back of her eye Sydney could see absolute horror and fear of the two rangers.  
  
"Gage go and see if Walker, Alex and Jimmy are here yet. And move slowly. She looks like she is about to bolt anyways and quick movement would only give here an additional reason for fear.  
  
"Got it Syd" Gage slowly crept backwards but always kept his eye on his partner and the girl.  
  
"OK Sweetie. What is your name?"  
  
At the sound of Sydney's voice the girl fliched and raised her hands to protect her face and chest. Syd tried to reach towards her to see how badly she was hurt but for every step Syd took forward the girl took 3 backwards. Syd also noticed how, except for the first brief second the girl had never looked Sydney or Gage in the face, always keeping her eyes at their waist so she would always know where they were.  
  
Meanwhile at the road, Walker, Alex and Trivette had arrived and Gage was filling them in on what they had found. "I don't know guys. She is small, looks like an 11 year old but that could be from the obvious malnourishment. The only clothes she's wearing barely cover her body. I could count all of her ribs and her fingers, nose, ears, toes and legs are all tinged with blue. She had been out here for a while. But the worst was her eyes. She was scared of us! Utterly terrified! She won't look us in the eye, every time we speak she flinches like we will hurt her and she hasn't spoken a word yet. This girl has lived through some really rough times. I don't even know if we will be able to get her to a hospital."  
  
After hearing this Walker and Trivetter both looked concerned for the girl and full of rage for whoever did this to her and what she had to have gone through, probably alone. Alex looked like she was going to cry.  
  
"Sydney is talking to her right now but I don't think it was going too well."  
  
"Well let's go find out, but go slowly."  
  
As the group approached Sydney they could see she was talking to the girl and trying to step towards her but the girl kept backing away. It would have almost seemed humourous had it not been for the look of terror on the girls face. Once the entire group reached Sydney, the girls eyes seemed to get even largeer and the ycould tell she was shaking and trembling in fear. The next thing they knew she had turn around and was attempting to run. But her legs were too weak so she fell and began to crawl away. Walker was the first to reah herr so he reached out and gently touched her shoulder. The girl cried out, curled int oa ball and for the first time spoke. "Just hurry up, get it over with." Her voice was hoarse as thought she hadn't spoken for awhile and she seemed ready to accept wahatever it was she expected. "OH God! I am sorry! I spoke out of turn, Oh God, never again, I swear!"  
  
The Rangers and Alex all seemed shocked at this outburst, not only the voice and words but the clear fright behind the words. "No,no. It is Ok. We won't hurt you, we're Rangers." Walker received no reply only a stare filled with fear. More fear than he had ever seen, even in Vietnam, because there at least the men had known they could rely on each other. Here, this girl seemed to be all alone.  
  
"Will you let me pick you up and take you to a hospital to get cleaned up, at least?" That seemed to scare her even more, she was know trying frantically to get away from the 5 adults. But Walker noticed she kept looking at Sydney, just every now and then and not for very long.  
  
"Syd," Walker spoke very softly, no more than a whisper,. "Syd come here and try to talk to her. I think she may like you. But be careful." Walkrr very slowly crept back now, never moving quickly and never standing up. Sydney crept forward until she was right in front of the trembling girl.  
  
"It will be Ok" She softly whispered, "You can trust us, we won't hurt you." At that the girl started to shake even harder and began to cry softly. Sydney was confused by this. She didn't know what had happened or how to continue. But she tried. "Would you like me to take you to the hospital?" A frantic shaking of the head was all the answer she got. "I am sorry but we have to. Your skin is blue from cold and you are injured. So how about just I take you?" Suddenly the girl tried to jump up, pressumably to run away, but instead she slipped on the wet leaves, fell and hit her head on one of the rocks. Sydney immediately checked to see if she was ok and was relieved to find a pulse, albeit very weak.  
  
"She is alive. But most likely has a concussion to go with the rest of the injuries now. *We should move her quickly while she is unconcious, luckily the nearest hospital is 5 minutes away it will be faster for us to take her. Gage carry her to the car and we will take her there. But be careful! We don't want her to wake up while you are holding her. I have a feeling she really doesn't like men."  
  
"Got it Syd." With that Gage leaned down and carfully lifted up the small girl. "God Syd, she weighs less than a feather. I bet I could circle her waist with one hand!"  
  
"Yeah Gage, I know. Let's hurry and get her to the hospital."  
  
Suddenly Walker spoke up. " Ok you guys take her to the hospital and Trivette and I will start looking through missing person reports."  
  
"Walker I am going to go with them."  
  
"Why Alex?"  
  
"Just in case she wants to talk when she wakes up"  
  
By this time they had reached the cars. "Ok Alex, but keep us updated please?""Sure thing Honey."  
  
With that the two senior rangers drove away leaving the others to figure out the seating arrangements. "Gage you drive. Alex why don't you sit in the front. I would prefer to sit back here with her in case she wakes up OK?"  
  
"Yeah Syd. That would probably be best any way. She seem to have connected with you. Or at least more with you than the rest of us."  
  
So with that figured out they piled in and headed out.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*I know, I know. You shouldn't move someone when they are injured but for the purpose of the story it was neccessary. 


	3. Broken Pieces

I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I have no spell check so am forced to edit it myself. Also it appears to upload in a weird fashion. Mistakes seen here are not appearing in the original text. I will try to fix this.  
  
Ch 3  
  
At the hospital, the girl was immediately rushed into emergency, where it was discovered she was covered with bruises, scratches, deep wounds and many, old scars. Her back, torso, arms, legs and backside, even her ears, were all covered. Indeed the only places that seemed to be without blemish were her face, hands and feet. After tests it was also found she had a concussion, 3 broken ribs, a spearated shoulder and 5 broken toes. Her left arm also showed evidence of a recent spiral fracture, one that could only be recieved by the twisting of an arm by someone very strong. She had obviously been horribly abused for many years.  
  
Sydney had stayed with the girl for as long as possible, knowing that if she awoke she would be terrified. Once Syd had to leave she returned to the waiting room where Gage and Alex sat anxiously. She told them what she knew so far, about the extreme external internal injuries. But the doctor was yet to do a vaginal exam to see if she had been raped. Both Gage and Alex were shaken up by what they had heard and Syd had to sit down, she was shaking so hard.  
  
"God Alex, this girl has gone through hell! I honestly don't understand how she could have survived. From the looks of things this has been going on for a few years. At least now we can have some idea why she is so scared of us, especially the guys. I would be willing to bet that she has been raped and probably repeatedly. I don't know if I could have survived such abuse for such a long time."  
  
This last remark really frightened Gage, for he knew just how tough his partner was. And for her to admit that she would give in? It had to be worse than imaginable. As Gage was think about Syd's comments, the doctor who was treating the girl walk into the room.  
  
"Ranger Sydney Cooke?" She asked looking around.  
  
"Yes Doctor. How is she?"  
  
"Maybe we should speak somewhere privately?"  
  
"Yes of course."  
  
"All right. This way please." The doctor led them into what appeared to be a lounge, empty.  
  
"Doctor this is my partner Ranger Gage and Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Alex Cahill-Walker."  
  
"Nice to meet you. Well unfortunately the girl woke up halfway through the exam. Upon realizing what was happening she, well, freaked out. Went crazy trying to get out of teh bed. Pulled out her I.V's and bruised herself and my nurses pretty badly. I'm glad you warned us to only have female staff attend her, Ranger Cooke, I shiver to think what would have happened had there been a man present. Anyway, we managed to get her strapped down and at that point she appeared to give up. She just lay there staring at us and silently crying. Actually, come to think of it, she didn't make one sound throughout the enire ordeal. Now then I must tell you she has been raped, many times in fact, for quite a few years. There are many, many scars, both internally and externally. She has also been sodomized. We have also called down one of our child psychologists to see if she can help."  
  
"Doctor can you possibly tell us how old she might be?"  
  
"Yes of course. She appears to be around 15 or 16." At the looks of surprise on their faces she continued. "I know she looks younger but that is because she is badly malnourished."  
  
"Thank you. May I go and sit with here now?"  
  
"Certainly Ranger Cooke. But she has been given a sedative to help her sleep. It wasa risk with her concussion but I believe we had to. For her own health, the health of our staff and to prevent other violent outbursts. So she probably won't wake up for awhile."  
  
"thank you Doctor, for your help."  
  
"It was no problem. I must say though, this is the worst case of abuse I have seen in a very long time. I hope you catch the people that did this and punish them."  
  
"Don't worry doctor we will. Can we have the rape kit please?" When Sydney spoke she had a firce look on her face. When Gage say this look he knew that this girl would never have to fear her captors again because Sydney would take care of them for her. Gage was also a little frightened however, he had never seen such a look before. Whatever happened in the woods before the rest had arrived had clearly touched Sydney and he knew she would die to protect the girl. He just prayed it wouldn't come down to that. Gage didn't think he could stand to lose her.  
  
"Of course. But I will warn you there are no semen samples. These people always used condoms."  
  
"Ok. Good day doctor."  
  
"Good day Rangers, Mrs. Walker."  
  
  
  
"God Alex. It's worse than I thought."  
  
"How could anyone do that to a young, innocent girl?"  
  
"I don't know Gage. I just don't know. OK, here is what we are going to do. Alex you head back to HQ. Gage take her and fill Walker and Jimmy in on what we have learned. I am going to stay here with her. Maybe when she wakes up I can learn her name."  
  
Gage agreed but had one stipulation. "I will be back to stand guard. Don't argue Syd. The people that did this are still out there and may find her. I don't want anything to happen to her or you Syd." His eyes were filled with concern and something else. Sydney felt her heart swell with even more love for him, at this show of emotion.  
  
"All right. You can stand guard. But it has to be out of her line of sight. Got it!?  
  
He flashed her one of his smiles that always made her legs go weak. "Great! I will be back soon. Take care." And with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder Gage left with Alex.  
  
After they had gone Sydney went to the girl's room. The psychologist wouldn't be down until the girl had awakened. Sydney sat there waiting for her to wake up, all the while trying to imagine who could do such things to a young girl. In the middle of her thoughts the girl began to fret. Sydney reached out to stroke her arm but that only made her more anxious and scared. So Syd began to sing a gentle lullaby. The girl soon settled down, as though she was remembering better times, maybe with a loving mother. Gage had returned at this point and stood inside the doorway, observing the scene in front of him. His gentle, loving partner trying to comfort a sad, abused girl who trusted no one and abhorred human touch. He thought at that point, that his heart had never been more full with love for his beautiful, caring, passionate Sydney. 


	4. Segment of Reality

Ch 4  
  
  
  
It was many weeks later and the girl had been released from the hospital into Sydney's care. This had been allowed because Sydney was the only person the girl had shown the slightest bit of trust in, and also because Sydney could act as a bodyguard should the need arise.  
  
In all this time however the girl had not spoken one word to Sydney, or to anyone else for that matter. Oh she was learning to trust Sydney for she no longer flinched when Syd touched her and had even smiled a couple of times. But she was yet to laugh or even tell Sydney her name. This greatly distressed Sydney so she spoke to the child psychologist whom the girl was seeing everyday. The psychologist, although she could not discuss what happened in the sessions, did confide that the girl would curl up in a ball in a caorner of the room and never move or speak. The psychologist did try to reassure Sydney by telling her that this girl had obviously gone through a horrendous experience that most people couldn't dream of, even in their nightmares. It would take months for her to trust people, yet she had already started. She showed signs of trusting Sydney more than any one else. And Sydney should try to encourage this by not pushing her and trying to not get angry or overly upset about anything while near her. At least until the girl realizes that Sydney won't hurt her.  
  
Sydney thanked the doctor and went into the room. After realizing it was Sydney and not someone else, the girl jumped up and flashed her a brief smile. This was the normal routine and had been for the past few weeks. But then she did something unexpected. The girl came up to Sydney and slipped her hand into Syd's, shyly, never looking at her as though she was expecting rejection. Sydney felt hot tears come to her eyes at this show of trust and maybe...affection? "Come on Sweetie, lets go home." Sydney whispered softly.  
  
Later on, after supper and after the girl had gone to sleep, Sydney started to think about her. Walker and Trivette still hadn't had any luck identifying her. They had widened the search in the past month and were checking with the rest of North America before moving on to international. But with only a description, no name, birthday, date of disappearance or location, it was slow going. Sydney hoped they would be able to identify her soon.  
  
The girls wounds had almost healed, just the broken bones hadn't, but she still remained skittish as a colt whenever Gage, Walker, Trivette or any man came near. If they were at home and one of the men stopped by she would always run to her room, slam the door shut and not come out till they were gone. Although lately Sydney had been noticing that when Gage came by (and he did almost every night) she wouldn't slam her door, just shut it. Maybe, just maybe she was starting to warm up to him.  
  
Several nights later Sydney was returning home. It was late at night, almost 11 pm. She had been called out to the HOPE Centre when an abusive husband showed up drunk and demanding his wife. Sydney hated it when a man considered a woman his posession. But the incident had been cleaned up with minimal fuss. The man had, in actuality, passed out shortly after Sydney had arrived, but it was discovered that he had had a gun in his posession so Syd was glad she had gone. And then she had had to stick around for a little bit to help reassure the women and children that nothing bad would happen to them. Sydney hated having had to leave the girl alone; it was the first time, in the 3 months she had been there that Syd had to leave her. And on top of that a horrendous storm had moved in and Sydney wasn't sure how the girl would react to the thunder and lightning. So all in all it had been a long night and Sydney just wanted to go home and sleep, after checking on the girl.  
  
When Syd arrived she immediately noticed there were no lights on. Her apartment was pitch black, too dark to see in front of her, lit only when a lightning bolt flashed. The second thing she noticed was the sobs and screams, coming from the girls room. These cries were different from the ones heard during her nightly nightmares, much more bloodcurdling, as if someone was actually in the room with her.  
  
Sydney rushed to her room, fearing someone was in there but when she opened the door there was no one. At first she thought she was mistaken, maybe the cries came from a different room. But after several flashes of lightning and by following the sounds, Sydney found her. Curled up in a corner with her hands braced against an attack, lay the girl, continuously screaming, "No! NO! Please stop! I'll be good. I'll do anything! Please don't hurt me again! OH GOD, stop, please!" She sobbed in between the screams.  
  
Sydney felt her heart break as she realized what had happened. The girl had gone to sleep and as usual, when she had a nightmare she had found a corner and curled up. But this time, because of the storm, it was as though the people were there, beating her again. With each clap of thunder she would flinch and cry out in pain, mayhap reliving the abuse.  
  
Sydney was unsure of what to do. Should she try to awaken the girl or would that traumatize her even more? Before she could come to a conclusion the girl answered for her with a sudden scream, louder than those before. "Sydney, help me! Make them stop, PLEASE! Make them stop!"  
  
With such a pitiful cry ringing in her ears and tears pooling in her eyes, Sydney moved over to sit beside her and hold her. At first the girl flinched when Sydney touched her softly but gradually she seemed to recognize Sydney's soft, gentle hands and voice. Her eyes opened and as soon as she realized it was Sydney she flew into her lap and arms, sobbing against Syd's neck. Sydney held her and rocked her, crying as well, until the tears had stopped. At this point she gathered the girl in her arms, carried her into her room and held her for the rest of the night; which passed without further interruption for the first time.  
  
The next morning, when Syd woke she found the girl staring at her with a slight smile on her face.  
  
"Morning Sweetie. Feeling OK?" With these gentle words, so lovingly spoken, Sydney received a huge surprise. Instead of the usual head shake or nod it was spoken.  
  
"My name is Catriona....."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
(don't you just hate it with people do this!) 


	5. Revelations

Ch 5  
  
It had been several weeks since the girl had told Sydney her name. Attempts for more information only met with a frantic shaking of the head and a look of fear. However it did make the Rangers job somewhat easier at finding out who she was and what might have happened. Now all they had to do was look for a report of a missing black-haired, green-eyed, English- speaking, short (5"2), skinny girl, in between the ages of 14 -17, whose name was Catriona. Doesn't sound too hard now does it? They had been working at this for 3 weeks and soon got the break they needed. From Catriona none-the-less.  
  
3 weeks and 4 days after Catriona had told Sydney her name, and 3 months since she had been found, she decided to spill all. She didn't know why exactly, but she knew she could trust Sydney, that Syd wouldn't hurt her. It was the first time in a long time she had felt this way. But she also knew she had to tell Sydney what had happened to her. She would tell Alex as well, because she had come to like the blonde attorney almost as much as Sydney. And she knew both Sydney and Alex really wanted to know who she was. Not just to KNOW who she was but also in the hopes of being able to get the men and women who had hurt her.  
  
Sydney and Alex were in Syd's apartment talking after a day of shopping with Catriona. It was a girls day out and now they were talking (or at least Syd and Alex were talking ) about the men in their lives. Catriona was in her room, thinking about how to tell them. Out in the living room Sydney and Alex were talking about some of the "adventures" their men had been in but mostly they were laughing at the mishaps they had gotten into. Alex had finally gotten Sydney to admit she loved Gage and was now trying to convince her to tell Gage because he felt the same way about her. Sydney on the other hand was trying to explain to Alex that she didn't want to screw up the friendship and partnership they had, when Catriona walked into the room.  
  
She sat next to Sydney on the couch and waited for a lull in the conversation. Well it didn't take long for both women to notice the serious expression on Catriona's face. When only silence spoke in the room, Catriona leaned over and, surprising Syd, gave her a hug. This wass one of the few times she had willingly touched anyone.  
  
"I've got something to say. Please don't interrupt because this is very difficult. I will tell you what happened to me but only once so take notes or record it, I don't care." At this point Alex grapped her bag and remove the tape recorder she always had with her. When Catriona saw Alex was ready, she reached out, took a strong hold of Syd's hand and began the horror story, in a detached voice.  
  
"My name is Catriona Anne Maeverly. My parents were Ronan and Elizabeth Maeverly. My Father was Irish, Mother was Canadian. I was born July 2, 1985 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. I was an only child but it was no big deal, my parents always made sure I had lots of animals to play with." At this point Catriona stopped and allowed a small smile to show through, perhaps remembering all the fun she had when she was young. But just as quickly it was gone and the grim tale continued.  
  
"I was orphaned when I was 9. My parents dead, the result of a drunk driver. And since both my Father's parents were dead, Mother's father was dead and Grandma was in a nursing home, dying and I had no other relatives, I was packed off to an orphanage. I lived there for a couple of years when I was kidnapped on February 7, 1996. It was a couple of years later when I figured out why it was me they had taken. Apparantly these men and women would go to an orphanage and pretend to be looking for a child to adopt. When they found one they liked they would think of a plan to take them. They figured since we were orphans no one would report us missing. I don't remember alot because I guess they chloroformed me but I do remember being put into a trunk and then carried to a car: we then drove for a little while, but after that it is a just a blank till we arrived at the house and I woke up. Anyway at the house they already had a couple of girls but they were older than me, around 16 years old. They told me the best thing to do was just lie still and don't argue. I didn't know what they meant at that point but I learned soon enough. About a month later both girls were gone. I asked what happend and they just beat me and told me to be quiet."  
  
Alex and Sydney glanced at each other. Even if Catriona didn't realize what had happened they had an idea. Obviously the men and women who had taken Catriona and the other girls, were pedaphiles, and got rid of the girls once they were "too old". Over their thoughts Catriona continued to talk. This time about how they beat and raped her.  
  
"It started the week after we arrived. They were making me clean the floor and I guess I missed a few spots. One of the women noticed and flew into a rage. She smacked my face, spit on me and said she would teach me how to clean up messes. Some of the men were in the kitchen and told her to be careful and not to make too many marks. Then they laughed. She dragged me into a room and made me remove my clothing, then she got naked and dragged one of the girls in, after tying me to a hook in the wall to make sure I didn't get away. She stripped the girls clothing off and forced her to lie on the bed, where she then tied her legs and arms each to a bedpost. The girl didn't seem to fight, she just gave in, I guess she knew it would happen either way. The women (I later learned her name is Grace) then took out a stick. It was about 15 inches and smooth. She then raped then girl repeatedly, made her scream out in pain. And then she made the girl do it to her until she screamed out, but not in pain. This woman then unchained me and told me clean them both up, using only my tongue and that if I missed a single spot she would break my leg. I refused at first so she broke my little finger for emphasis. That worked but when I tried to clean them I cried so hard I dripped tears allover them and got anotehr finger broken for creating an additional mess. Eventually though they were both clean, and the girl got to leave. The woman grapped my face and carassed it and told me she hoped I was a fast learner or I would be in big trouble. She then hit my face again, laughed and left me there vomiting in a corner and crying."  
  
Catriona stopped at this point to draw a deep breath and try to compose herself, before she continued.  
  
"2 days later the "leader" decided it was time to break me in and teach me the basics of being their servant. He took me to a room that had no windows, only a door, a bed, a small table and two buckets, one for waste and one for water to wash up with. He told me it would take about a month to teach me how to behave. First he told me I would only be allowed to wear clothes on some occasions: when it was cold I could wear socks and a robe as long as it was open, and then when I started my period I would be allowed to wear underwear, but that wouldn't happen for a couple of years so it didn't matter. He told me my most basic job was to keep everyone happy, that I was to submit to anyone and anything at almost any time (it was my job to cook so the people were not suppose to touch me then). He then undressed and showed me how to pleasure him. After he made me clean him and then myself. he then explained that I was theirs. I would be their servant and play toy until they tired of me and that I had to do everything they told me to do. This guy explained that all of the men would wear condoms, so that the group wouldn't have to deal with babies or someone contracting some disease. He said if anyone didn't wear one, I was to tell him and he would kill them. At first I didn't believe him but several days later when one of the other men took me, when I mentioned he had t owear a condom and he just laughed and said he didn't listen to anyone. This new man then proceeded to rape me several times and then forced me to take him in my mouth and finish him. Afterwards I informed the boss that the man had not worn a condom despite my warning. His eyes glowed like they were lit by a fire and his jaw got really tight. He then stormed away from me. I gotta say I was so happy he didn't take his anger out on me that I didn't really care if he ended up killing this guy. As it turns out he did kill him and said that that would be a warning for anyone else. It never happened again."  
  
At this point Catriona paused to go and get a drink of water. While she was gone Alex and Sydney both sat there, not talking, just thinking about what she had told them so far. It seemed almost surreal. But they knew it had to have happened. The look in Catriona's eyes when she was talking convinced them of the horror and terror she had lived thru. Catriona came back, sat down and continued her story.  
  
"The abuse and rape continued. Every damn day, not missing a single one, someone would take me to the room and force me to do stuff or to take it." This was the first time she had really shown any emotion on her face, and the hatred there now kinda of scared the other two women. "Usually it was done several times a day. Every damn day, they took me. Over and over and OVER AGAIN!!! Never did I get a break. Again and again and AGAIN I was forced to do stuff that prostitutes wouldn't. They had no care for me. As long as my hands, feet and face were left alone the rest of my body was fair game. They didn't care, they didin't listen, they knew if something happened to me they could always get another girl real easily. THEY DIDN'T CARE!!" At this point she was unable to go on, she had broken down and collapsed against Sydney sobbing her heart out. Sydney and Alex also gave in to their tears, crying along with for what she had to suffer alone. for the longest time they all cried until eventually Alex began to speak to Catriona.  
  
" We will get them, I promise you this. We will get them and we will make them pay. They will suffer as you did but in the prisons. Men in prisons, for whatever reason, don't like people who pray on children. They will suffer as you suffered. I promise you this!" At this point Alex's words got through to Catriona and while she stopped sobbing she still had tears coursing down her face, and landing on the arms that held her so close.  
  
"Ok, ok. Thank you Alex, I can only hope you are right and that they do suffer much the same way. Ok lets continue and get this over with. I had been with them for maybe a year (I was unable to tell the passing of days and months since they ate irregularily) when I came up with the idea of escaping. Now I had thought of it before but the yhad watchedme so closely that first year, it was impossible to get away. But now they had seemed to have relaxed their guard. So in what I thought was hte middle of the night, with most of them asleep, I snuck out the back door. Turns out it wasn't the middle of the night, only the midddle of the day, but I didn't care if they could see me, I still ran. Well they managed to recapture me in about 10 minutes. They keep me tied up, spreadeagle in bed for days, maybe weeks. By the time they left me loose, I could barely walk. My legs were too weak and I was to sore so I was stuck in bed til lI could recover. Although they only gave me a day to recover."  
  
Again Catriona paused, this time to take a deep breath as though she were preparing her self for battle.  
  
"After I tried to escape they tormented me whenever possible. The ywould set me up so I would believe I could escape or be rescued and then they would swoop down and destroy thosse hopes. After a while I didn't believe anything but my hatred was real. About once a year they would pull a big one. Teh first time they had people I didn't know dress up as cops and break down the doors and 'beat' everyone up and the nrescue me. But instead of taking me away they used their fake handcuffs to hold me down and then my 'rescuers' rape me also, while my captures sat in the backround and laughed at the expression on my face. The folowing year it was firefighters, complete with axes and outfits. Again they raped me while teh rest sat and laughed and then joined in. This year, just a month before you found me they used Rangers. they had teh stars, the guns, the attitudes. I really thought they were real people coming to rescue me. But after 'defeating' my captures, they too raped me but his time instead of laughing my captures videotaped it. They said it was much better than the previous years because I had actually believed it and when I found out I was wrong, I had cried. That was my first real show of emotion in several years, I had tried to block all others previously figuring it would be easier that way. And this time instead of leaving the 'Rangers' stayed for, I think a week, and continued to use me while rubbing the stars in my face."  
  
Catriona now turned to Sydney and tried to explain. "That is why I was so scared of you guys when you first found me. I didin't know what to expect. I thought for sure you were more of the same people, just hunting me down and returning me to that horror where you could then use me also. Never did i think you were actually rescuers. You were just more of the same to hurt me. I mean that may be hard to believe since there were both you and Alex presrent but there were also some women during the fake rescues and they would help hold me down. These people are als owhy I didn't talk to you. It was forbidden for me to speak, under any circumstances, punishable by being whipped and beaten."  
  
At this point she stopped, noticing that both Sydney and Alex seemed to be having a hard understanding exactly what had happened. They probably found it hard that people would want to use other people in such a manner. Catriona decided to give them a few minutes to try and absorb what she had told them so far before she continued. At least there was only a little bit of information left to tell, really only how she ended up in the woods.  
  
"As I said the incident with the Rangers happened only about a month before you found me. After that happened I guess I became totally unworthy of their attentions. I never screamed anymore, no matter what they did. They even broke my ribs to try and convince me to scream, but I didn't care about the pain anymore, it didn't matter, I knew they would kill me eventually so why not sooner than later, I figured. So about 3 days before you found me, I overheard them discussing how I was no more fun and they would have to kill me. Several wanted to keep me until they got a replacement but most wanted me gone as soon as possible. I decided that I would try to leave as soon as possible. I guess I did care if they would kill me or not. If they caught me leaving they would kill me, and if I didn't leave they would kill me. So my only hope was to leave and not get caught. As it was apparently they get rid of the girls by giving them sedatives s othey are quiet and then killing them. When Idecided to escape I looked around and found the sedatives. Since I am also the cook it was easy enough to slip the sedatives into the food. This I did the following night and soon they were all dead asleep. I left and ran. I ran everywhere, switching directions often, hoping if they followed me they would lose me. I kept to the heavily wooded areas and in the streams, I don't know if i was even thinking about where I would go or even if I would survive, I don't think I would have even cared if I had died, I just kept running. I ran until my feet wouldn't go on and then I collapsed against the boulders. The next thing I knew I was staring up at the face of Sydney."  
  
Catriona turned to look at Sydney. " You really scared me you know. At first I felt a little relieved to be found, after I got over the fact there was a face staring right down at me. But then you said you were Rangers and you wouldn't hurt me, remember? Well that is almost exactly what they said and then they rapd me. So that is why I reacted as I did. I hope you can understand. And that is basically what happened to me in the last 5 years. If you want to ask me some questions go ahead"  
  
Both Sydney and Alex were stunned. The story they had just heard was something from Hollywood, something made up, not a tale that actually happened in real life. They didn't know where to start. Eventually though Sydney spoke up.  
  
"Oh God Sweetie, it makes sense know. Your apprehension when we found you and then you not wanted to be touched or to talk, it all makes sense. But can you tell us how you got some of the scars on your body? I mean if it is too hard then don't worry but it might make it easier if the Rangers have an idea what kind of weapon to look for."  
  
"Ok no problem. The long slashes on my back are from a leather strap inlaid with tiny metal edges, like razor blades. They would use this only if I did something really wrong, like if I refused to do something." Both Sydney and Alex flinched at hearing this. But Catriona continued. "The circular marks are cigarettes that were still burning that they put out on me. The ones on my throat and ankles are robe burns. The others are just various injuries given to me."  
  
After that, and late in to the evening, Sydney and Alex continued to question her, about the men and woman involved, how many there were, whate they looked like, if she would recognize them and if she knew any of their names. Catriona answered as best she could and by the time they were done 4 tapes had been filled with her story and their questions and her answers. By the time Alex left, around 11 o'clock, all three of them were exhausted. It had been a very trying, very revealing day and they all wanted sleep. knowing it would be a tiring day tomorrow as well. After Alex left, Sydney and Catriona prepared for bed. Sydney had been asleep for about 20 minutes when she heard her bedroom door open and a voice spoke up.  
  
"Can I sleep in here with you, please?"  
  
"Sure Sweetie, climb aboard." Was all Sydney could reply in her drowsy state. But when Catriona climbed up into the bed Sydney felt she had to tell her something. Turning her around so that they faced each other, Sydney stroked her hair and told her. "Sweetie I just want you to know that I love you and I will be here for you through all of whatever happens. OK?"  
  
Catriona cried at hearing this. "Thank you , thank you" She sobbed. " It has been so long since someone loved me. I love you too Syd."  
  
They both clung to each other, one needed to be reassured of love in the world and the other glad to provide it. Sydney had almost fallen back asleep when she heard Catriona speak up again.  
  
"I think you need to tell Gage too." 


End file.
